Canadian heavy crude’s discount versus West Texas Intermediate (WTI) narrowed on Thursday with tight inventories in focus.
Western Canada Select (WCS) heavy blend crude for November delivery in Hardisty, Alberta, traded at $9.50 per barrel below WTI, according to NE2 Canada Inc. It settled on Wednesday at $9.75 under.
Western Canadian inventories sit at multi-year lows, but differentials are likely to widen into early 2021 as production continues to return to market and pipelines increase rationing of space, said John Coleman, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
Light synthetic oil from the oil sands for November delivery traded at $3.50 below WTI, wider than Wednesday’s settle of $3.25 under.
Global oil prices rose on support from output shutdowns ahead of a storm in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the possibility of supply cuts from Saudi Arabia and Norway. 29dk2902l